When Debbie McNulty discovers a surprise $179 charge on her credit card from Furnished Finder, she immediately asks for a refund. Why is the company trying to keep her money? 

Q: I've listed my vacation home on Furnished Finder, an online platform for monthly furnished rentals, for the past three years. I never received a booking from Furnished Finder during that time, but I was fine paying the annual fee. Now that I'm renting short-term again, I no longer need to list on Furnished Finder.

My membership was set to auto-renew. Furnished Finder sent one reminder email last month, but I totally missed it. We all get so much email these days, and I was just back from a two-week trip, so I overlooked it. My bad.

When I woke up to a $179 charge from Furnished Finder last week, I immediately contacted Furnished Finder to cancel and requested a refund. A representative sent me a standard response that their policy is not to give refunds.

It’s in the contract, I get it. I should have notified them before the renewal date. Still, the fact that I contacted them on the very same day that they processed the renewal makes it seem petty to keep my money. I asked to escalate the request on the basis that granting me a refund was the right thing to do. Do you think it is worth asking again? — Debbie McNulty, Los Gatos, Calif.

A: Yes, it's definitely worth asking. Furnished Finder should have refunded your $179.

While the company is technically correct — you agreed to the terms and conditions, which state that all fees are nonrefundable — hiding behind the fine print in this situation is bad customer service. 

You canceled on the same day the charge went through. You had a valid reason for leaving the platform, as your property is no longer suited for the long-term tenants Furnished Finder serves. Keeping your money for a full year of service you clearly stated you wouldn't use seems unreasonable.

Companies love automatic renewals because they're convenient. A business doesn't have to pursue every customer, asking them to renew every year. Instead, they simply send a courtesy reminder, and you can cancel before the auto-renewal date. 

But in your case, that single email got buried in your inbox. By the time you saw the charge, the company claimed it was too late.

I have a little personal experience with running a business that handles automatic subscription renewals. What you might not know is that about 80 percent of credit card disputes for an unwanted auto-renewal goes the customer's way. So if you'd filed a credit card dispute, you'd probably have your money by now.

The takeaway here is to treat every subscription like a ticking clock. Don't rely on the company to remind you that your bill is due. Set your own calendar alerts for a few days before a cancellation deadline. And if you aren't 100 percent sure you'll want to renew, it's often safer to turn off the auto-renew option the moment you sign up.

You did exactly what I always recommend: You kept a thorough paper trail. You saved your chat transcripts with the virtual assistant and the live agents, as well as your email correspondence. This evidence showed that you acted in good faith and tried to resolve the issue immediately.

I contacted the company's CEO, Jeff Hurst, on your behalf. He reviewed your case and replied, "We'll get this refunded."

You've received the full $179 back.

 Christopher Elliott is the founder of Elliott Advocacy (https://elliottadvocacy.org), a nonprofit organization that helps consumers solve their problems. Email him at chris@elliott.org or get help by contacting him at https://elliottadvocacy.org/help/